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 People in chronic pain are at risk of depression to start with. When
pain makes them stay home more, interacting with friends and family
less, it only adds to this risk, the researchers write in the
Journals of Gerontology, Series B.
The 3,401 study participants were 67 or older, and all lived in the
community rather than in a caregiving facility. About one-third
lived alone, and 1,833, or 54 percent, said they'd been bothered by
pain in the last month.
Among people with pain, the rate of depression was lower with social
media use. Six percent of those who used social media also reported
symptoms of depression, compared with 15 percent of those who didn't
use social media.
The new analysis is one of the first to investigate whether social
media can help alleviate the stresses of social isolation brought on
by pain, said co-author Shannon Ang, a doctoral candidate in
sociology at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.
"Using online social media to maintain contact with family members
and friends is a good way to compensate for seniors who restrict
their social activities due to pain. It is not going to replace
seeing people in person, but it will help supplement their reduced
activities," Ang said in a phone interview.
"For us, this study is about preserving mental health," he added.
In the U.S., 57 percent of people born in 1945-1964 and 23 percent
of those born before 1945 use social media, according to a 2018
survey by the Pew Research Center.
For the new study, Ang and his coauthor looked at data for 2013 and
2014 from the National Health and Aging Trends Study, an annual
survey that tracks Medicare beneficiaries' physical and cognitive
health over time.
Every month, an average, the participants engaged in one formal
social activity - such as attending religious services or a club
meeting - and about two informal social activities - such as
spending time with friends at their homes. Only 17 percent had used
online social networks.
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Ang hopes to see more programs and services that teach older adults
to use computers and navigate social media sites.
He and his team also hope to look in more detail into how long, how
often and which social media sites older people should use to help
ward off the mental health effects of pain, social isolation and
loneliness.
The current study wasn't designed to prove whether or how using
social media might help stave off depression, or whether people with
depression or pain might use social media less than others. Another
limitation is that the survey data didn't include details about
types of social media sites used or how participants used them.
"It's very well known that social support is helpful for depression
and physical symptoms. It's a growing area of interest in research
and clinical care," said Dr. William Pirl of the Dana-Farber Cancer
Institute in Boston, who wasn't involved in the study.
Pirl would hesitate to recommend social media to all older adults
with pain and loneliness, however.
"People respond differently to it. Some people can become more
anxious hearing other peoples' stories or about other treatments for
what they're experiencing. There's a lot of variability of whether
social media is right for you," he said.
People can also feel supported with phone calls or video
conferencing, mobile apps or other technology that may have similar
effects, he noted.
SOURCE: https://bit.ly/2A3wBOS Journals of Gerontology, Series B;
online September 27, 2018.
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